Jay Klapper Earns
First Victory on South Carolina Tour
Since 1999 with a Playoff Victory12 March 2005 - Columbia, S.C. - Jay Klapper needed a solid playoff round to come out victorious for the first time in six years on Saturday evening. Klapper outlasted Matt Summey and Randy Orr in an 18-hole playoff by firing a 10-under 26 to win by three shots over Summey. All three ended the second tournament of the day in Columbia with a total score of 80.
Earlier in the day, the participants dealt with strong winds that would persist into the start of the evening tournament, which began at 5:00 p.m. After the first hour of play, the winds began to deteriorate and within an hour, winds were calm. Surprisingly, scores did drop in the first round before the winds died down. Klapper was leading in the first round with a 24, enough to share it with Dan Anders.
Jay Klapper playing the 17th hole on Course #3 in the
2004 PPA World Match Play Championship (20 July 2004).The second round belonged to Tony Varnadore. Already down a stroke after the first round, Varnadore continued to cruise. A 24 by the 2003 PPA South Carolina State Champion gave him the outright lead at 49, good enough for a three-shot lead on Klapper. Varnadore faltered in the final round and finished with a bogey on the last hole in regulation.
Orr, four down to Varnadore, fired a 27 in the final round to finish play at 80. Klapper held on after the first round 24 to fire back-to-back 28's and tied Orr. Varnadore had a chance to win the tournament on 18, but he left his tee shot short and rested along the block in the front of the hole. He would miss his deuce putt and would not join Orr and Klapper in a playoff. Summey finished with a final round 25 to make it a three-way playoff at 80.
Klapper would take over from the start of the 18-hole playoff. He aced seven of the first nine on his way to a decisive three-shot win. Klapper would win his first South Carolina event since the 1999 PPA South Carolina State Championship.
In the APA Division, Russell Taylor cracked into win column in dominating fashion. Taylor posted opening rounds of 26 and 25 for a two-shot lead and held on to win by that margin. Taylor finished with a final score of 80 for his third career win in Columbia. Jeff Carr and Todd Trent came in second at 82.
After Klapper won the playoff, Orr and Summey were second. Varnadore finished tied for fourth with Rick Culverhouse by firing a score of 81. Anders came in sixth at 83, while Brad Lebo finished in seventh at 84. Klapper received the South Carolina qualifying spot, while Orr grabbed the two-tournament low score.
The next tournament on the schedule is for Sunday, March 13 at 10:00 a.m. on Course 1. After that, the tour will head to Forest City for their only trip on the schedule on April 2 & 3.
Tournament results provided by Opie Roberts.
Professional Division of Columbia, S.C. Event
(Columbia, S.C. - Course #1 - 12 March 2005)
Round Prize Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Jay Klapper*
24 28 28 80 $ 140.00 2 Randy Orr 29 24 27 80 $ 90.00 Matt Summey 29 26 25 80 $ 90.00 4 Rick Culverhouse 26 28 27 81 $ 65.00 Tony Varnadore 25 24 32 81 $ 65.00 6 Dan Anders 24 30 29 83 $ 55.00 7 Brad Lebo 26 28 30 83 $ 55.00 8 Rick Baird 27 27 32 84 $ 44.00 Andy Coradini 32 28 26 84 $ 44.00 Randal Smith 28 29 29 86 $ 44.00 11 Frank Warren 28 31 28 87 $ 40.00 12 Darrell Britt 30 32 26 88 $ 20.00 Tony Jackson 26 34 28 88 $ 20.00 14 Tommy Barbour 34 28 27 89 Bob Jackson 31 28 30 89 Manfred Stewart 32 25 32 89 17 Greg Ward 28 34 29 91 18 Randy Reeves 28 33 31 92 19 Robert Johnson 32 31 30 93 20 Rick Rybaczek 34 30 30 94 21 Michael Hitt 30 31 34 95 22 Tom Comstock 31 37 28 96 23 Robert Ward 35 33 32 100 24 Steve Toomey 32 36 33 101 * Jay Klapper won an 18-hole playoff for the victory
(Klapper 26, Summey 29 and Orr 33)Amateur Division of Columbia, S.C. Event
(Columbia, S.C. - Course #1 - 12 March 2005)
Round Expense Player 1 2 3 Total Money 1 Russell Taylor
26 25 29 80 $ 10.00 2 Jeff Carr 25 28 29 82 $ 10.00 Todd Trent 25 30 27 82 $ 10.00 4 Dennis Biesma 29 25 30 84 $ 10.00 5 Larry Smith 32 28 26 86 $ 10.00 6 Chris Hudson 31 25 31 87 $ 5.00 Ricky Schults 32 27 28 87 $ 5.00 8 Barry Moore 29 30 29 88 9 Steve Helton 27 31 34 92 Lynn Self 31 31 30 92 11 Chris Alley 30 33 36 99 Larry Hoover 32 33 34 99 13 Caleb Kennedy 32 32 36 100 14 Terry Hendrix 33 33 36 102 Mark Lawson 33 36 33 102 Frankie Peters 39 33 30 102 17 James LeBrun 40 35 29 104 18 Donald Ralph 34 38 36 108 19 Darren Harvey 52 34 39 125
